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New grad program opens possibilities for Four Corners educators
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New grad program opens possibilities for Four Corners educators

The School of Teacher Education is in constant contact with educators and school districts to understand what programs would best serve the Four Corners region’s educational professionals. And that’s how FLC’s newest graduate program, a Master of Arts in Education: Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education that will launch this fall, came to be.

“We feel that it’s our responsibility to continue to develop our expertise and to think about how we can better serve these teachers, how we can better serve these communities,” Lorien Chambers Schuldt, assistant professor of Teacher Education, says. “What is really at the cutting edge of what we’re trying to help them develop?”

Applications for the master’s program in Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education will open March 15 for the Fall 2018 cohort. The program is designed for licensed teachers and other educational professionals who want their students to increase their academic achievement regardless of their heritage.

Through the program, professionals will become experts in educational linguistics and culturally responsive strategies to help students who may speak another language. The courses will dive into language acquisition, multilingual teaching strategies, assessment and policy implications, and graduate-level research.

The program will also allow teachers to apply for a Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Endorsement through the state of Colorado or a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) endorsement in New Mexico. Participants can also enroll in a truncated version of the program that leads to certification without earning a master’s degree.

The master’s program is not strictly for K-12 teachers, though. “As we developed this new master’s program, we really opened it up to people beyond classroom teachers,” Associate Professor of Teacher Education Chiara Cannella says. “People who are interested in language and literacy and culturally responsive instruction and supporting development. Having a teaching credential is not a requirement for this program.”

In addition to the new Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education master’s degree program, the School of Teacher Education offers two other graduate-level programs:

  • The Master of Arts in Teacher Licensure guides participants to earn their state teaching licensure in the first year, and a master’s degree in the second year.
  • For those who already have a bachelor’s degree and teaching licensure, or who work in other areas of education and aren’t seeking a license to teach, there’s the Master of Arts in Teacher Leadership program.

“We’re really excited to offer this wide range of programs locally for folks who have a connection to this community,” Cannella says. “So many people live here because they love the place, and they have that connection. So we’re working hard to help everyone find a good fit in a program that's going to help them meet their goals and let them stay in the place they love.”

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